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Nitric acid is normally considered to be a strong acid at ambient temperatures. There is some disagreement over the value of the acid dissociation constant, though the pK a value is usually reported as less than −1. This means that the nitric acid in diluted solution is fully dissociated except in extremely acidic solutions.
The strength of a strong acid is limited ("leveled") by the basicity of the solvent. Similarly the strength of a strong base is leveled by the acidity of the solvent. When a strong acid is dissolved in water, it reacts with it to form hydronium ion (H 3 O +). [2] An example of this would be the following reaction, where "HA" is the strong acid:
Acetic acid is an example of a weak acid. The pH of the neutralized solution resulting from HA + OH − → H 2 O + A −. is not close to 7, as with a strong acid, but depends on the acid dissociation constant, K a, of the acid. The pH at the end-point or equivalence point in a titration may be calculated as follows.
For example, acetic acid is a weak acid which has a = 1.75 x 10 −5. Its conjugate base is the acetate ion with K b = 10 −14 /K a = 5.7 x 10 −10 (from the relationship K a × K b = 10 −14), which certainly does not correspond to a strong base. The conjugate of a weak acid is often a weak base and vice versa.
A strong acid will react with a weak base to form an acidic (pH < 7) solution. A weak acid will react with a strong base to form a basic (pH > 7) solution. These indicators are essential tools in chemistry and biology, aiding in the determination of a solution's acidity or alkalinity through the observation of colour transitions. [ 10 ]
On the other hand, if a chemical is a weak acid its conjugate base will not necessarily be strong. Consider that ethanoate, the conjugate base of ethanoic acid, has a base splitting constant (Kb) of about 5.6 × 10 −10, making it a weak base. In order for a species to have a strong conjugate base it has to be a very weak acid, like water.
In chemistry, a strong electrolyte is a solute that completely, or almost completely, ionizes or dissociates in a solution. These ions are good conductors of electric current in the solution. Originally, a "strong electrolyte" was defined as a chemical compound that, when in aqueous solution , is a good conductor of electricity.
The higher the proton affinity, the stronger the base and the weaker the conjugate acid in the gas phase.The (reportedly) strongest known base is the ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion (E pa = 1843 kJ/mol), [3] followed by the methanide anion (E pa = 1743 kJ/mol) and the hydride ion (E pa = 1675 kJ/mol), [4] making methane the weakest proton acid [5] in the gas phase, followed by dihydrogen.